1
/o/ ~ /oh/Skewed opposition depending on length
Low back merger Increase phonetic distance
Northern Cities Shift
Pittsburgh chain shift
Canadian Shift
Back vowel shift
Back upglide chain shift
Inland North: front /o/
Eastern seaboard: raise /oh/
South: add upglide
The Life History of Linguistic Change
William Labov, University of Pennsylvania
ICHL Montreal August 2007
2
www.ling.upenn.edu/~labov
3
A sequence of linguistic changes
Unstable condition
A B
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
A’ B’
Causally linked
Contingent alternatives
Triggering event
4
Components of a sequence of linguistic changes
1. Triggering events: the first in the chain of causally connected events
2. Governing principles: constraints that determine the unidirectional character of changes
3. Forks in the road: alternate pathways of change that differentiate sister dialects
4. Driving forces: factors that lead to the continued incrementation of the changes
5. Re-analysis: the process that leads to the uniform distribution of the changes across the speech community.
5
Two ways of looking at the problems of language change
1. The actuation problem
2. Constraints problem
3. The transition problem
4. The embedding problem
5. The evaluation problem
Triggering events
Governing principles
Forks in the road
Driving forces
Re-analysis
Weinreich, Labov & Herzog 1968
Accounting for changes
This presentation
Accounting for sequences of changes
6
ANAE notation for the word classes of North American English
LONG
Upgliding
SHORT
Front upgliding Back upgliding
Ingliding
V Vy Vw Vh
nucleus front back front back front back unrounded rounded
high i u iy iw uw
mid e √ ey oy ow oh
low Q o ay aw ah
7
ANAE notation aligned with JC Wells’ word classes for American English
LONG
Upgliding
SHORT
Front upgliding Back upgliding
Ingliding
V Vy Vw Vh
nucleus front back front back front back unrounded rounded
high i KIT
u FOOT
iy FLEECE
uw GOOSE
mid e
DRESS √
STRUT ey
FACE oy
CHOICE ow
GOAT ´ h
NURSE oh
THOUGHT low æ
TRAP O
LOT ay
PRICE aw
MOUTH ah
PA LM
8
Triggering events
9
The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Marsha M., 24 [1997], Montreal, TS659
backing of /æ/
lowering of /e/
merger of /o/ and /oh
10
The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Hubert B., 17, Toronto, TS798
backing of /æ/
lowering of /e/
merger of /o/ and /oh
11
500
550
600
650
700
750
800
850
1000120014001600180020002200
F2
F1Canadian
All others
/i/
/e/
/æ/ /o/
Source: The Atlas of North American English
The Canadian Shift: mean values of Canadian Telsur subjects [N=25] compared to all others [N=414].
12
The Canadian Shift nested in the Low Back Merger area (ANAE Map 11.7)
Low back merger isogloss
13
The Canadian Shift
12
3
14
The low back merger of /o/ and /oh/ in cot and caught, etc. (ANAE Map 9.1)
The West
Canada
W. Pa.
E.N.E.
15
aw
OE
ag
vocaliza-tion of /g/
ah
eah
breaking
rounding
OF
au
ME
av
vocaliza-tion of /v/
a+u aN
oht
denasal-ization
o __f,s,T,N
length-ening
thaw, straw, claw
maw, saw, draw
fought, taught
thought, bought
brawn, pawn
hawk, laundry
applaud, because
off, cost, cloth, strong
EME
lawn, spawn
/oh/
The development of /oh/
alC
talk, call, all
vocaliza-tion of /l/
vocaliza-tion of /x/
wa
water, wash
round-ing
[ç:]
mono-phthong-ization
[au]
16
/o/ /oh/
cot caught
Don dawn
hock hawk
stock stalk
odd awed
cod cawed
Sol Saul
odd ability audibility
. . . . . .
Minimal pairs contrasting /o/ and /oh/
17
/o/ /o/ -> /oh/ /oh/t cot, tot, hot, got, dot caught. bought, taut, foughtd odd, hod, god, sod awed, hawed, gaud, saweds toss, moss, floss, cost sauce, exhaust, causticz Oz, positive cause, clause, hawser, pawsn don, don, pond on dawn, awn, yawn, lawn l doll, moll, collar all, tall, maul, callerp hop, pop, top, sop ----------b rob, hob daub, baublec& Scotch, botch, watch ----------j lodge, dodge, Roger ----------g log. hog, cog, dog auger, augment, augur, Augustk stock, hock, clock stalk, hawk, talkf {boff} off, doff, scoff, cough, T {Goth} cloth, moth, ----------S gosh, bosh, tosh ----------D bother ----------z& ---------- ----------m bomb, Tom, prom ----------N {ping pong} strong. song, wrong ----------# ---------- law, saw, flaw, thaw, claw
Contrast of /o/ and /oh/ after tensing of /o/
apicals
18
A linguistic sequence
/oh/
Low back merger
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
OE aw OE au OE ah
OE eahOF au
OF an
OF a+uME av
OE ohtME a(:}u
EME ç:
ME
ç(:}u
~ /o/
Mod E. off, lost, song
Unstable condition
19
A linguistic sequence 1
/oh/ ~ /o/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
Triggering event
Unstable condition
20
Governing principles
21
Garde’s Principle:
Mergers cannot be reversed by linguistic means
Herzog’s Corollary:
Mergers expand at the expense of distinctions
General principles of merger
22
A linguistic sequence 1
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
Unidirectional
23
In chain shifts,
I. Long vowels rise.
II. Short nuclei fall.
II. Back nuclei shift to the front.
--Labov, Yaeger & Steiner 1972
General principles of chain shifting
24
In chain shifts,
I. Tense nuclei rise along a peripheral track
II. Lax nuclei fall along a non-peripheral track
General principles of chain shifting
25
Phonemes co-existing in a language tend naturally to optimize
the possibilities that are available from the speech organs; they
tend to be as distant from their neighbors as possible while
remaining easy to articulate and easy to perceive. . .
Martinet 1955:62 (tr. WL), attributed to de Groot TCLP 1931:121
Martinet on maximal dispersion
26
/æ/ /o/ /oh/
A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not recognized as a member of the /æ/ distribution
mean F2 1700 Hz
27
/æ/ /o/ /oh/
A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not recognized as a member of the /æ/ distribution
mean F2 1700 Hz
28
An unstable distribution of English low vowels: /o/ merged with /oh/ so that the /æ/ outlier affects the central tendency of /æ/,
/æ/ /o=oh/
mean F2 1650 Hz
29
The Canadian Shift across subsystems
/e/
/æ/ /o/
/oh/
Short vowels
Long and ingliding vowels
30
A linguistic sequence 1
/oh/ ~ /o/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
31
Forks in the road
32
Forks in the road of the Canadian Shift
/e/
/æ/ /o/
/oh// /
/i/ /u/
33
The Pittsburgh Shift in the vowel system of Ken K., 35, TS 258
34
The Pittsburgh Shift in a Plotnik display of means of 21 dialectsPI = Pittsburgh; WPA = Western Pennsylvania; CA = Canada; IN = Inland North; M =
Midland; MA = Mid-Atlantic; PR = Providence; IS = Inland South
low back merger
lowering of /^/
no backing of /æ/
backing of /æ/
no lowering of /^/
,CA
35
A linguistic sequence 2
/oh/ ~ /o/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
oho
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
36
A linguistic sequence 3
/oh/ ~ /o/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
oho
unround-ing /o/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
37
Unrounding of /o/ in Western New England
Boston
Burlington
Rutland Manchester
F2(o) < 1300 Hz
F2(o) >= 1300 Hz
38
The merger of /o/ and /ah/
/oh/
OE aw
OE au OE ah
OE eahOF au a+u
OF an
ME avOE oht
ME a:u
EME ç:
ME ç:u
off cloth loss lost strong song ….
father
pa ma spa bra hah
calm palm
llama pasta taco Scarlatti Rama pajama Obama Bach Iraq …..
half bath past aunt dance …..
/ah/
EME A:
ME
çXtsalve halve
/o/ [A]
39
A linguistic sequence 3
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Merge /o/ --> /ah/
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
oho
unround-ing /o/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
UnidirectionalUnidirectional
Bidirectional
balm = bomb father = bother
40
A linguistic sequence 3
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Merge /o/ --> /ah/
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
e
æoh
o
oho
unround-ing /o/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
UnidirectionalUnidirectional
Bidirectional
Inland North: fronting of /o, ah/
41
Fronting of /o,ah/ in the Inland North (ANAE Map 14.5).
42
Ked
cud
ahcodcad
cawed
The Northern Cities Shift
43
The Northern Cities Shift
head
desk
bosses
busses
block
socks
mat
44
A linguistic sequence
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Merge /o/ --> /ah/
Northern Cities Shift
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift Inland
North: fronting of /o, ah/
e
æoh
o
oho
e
æh
oh
ah
unround-ing /o/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
UnidirectionalUnidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
45
Raising of /oh/ in the Mid-Atlantic States: Providence to Baltimore
Magenta symbols: F1(oh) < 700 Hz
46
A linguistic sequence 4
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Merge /o/ --> /ah/
Northern Cities Shift
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
Back vowel shift
Inland North: front /ah/
Eastern seaboard: raise /oh/
e
æoh
o
oho
e
æ
oh
ah
ah(r)
oh(r)
unround-ing /o/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
UnidirectionalUnidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
47
Three areas of resistance to the low back merger (ANAE Map 11.2)
48
A linguistic sequence 5
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Merge /o/ --> /ah/
Northern Cities Shift
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
Back vowel shift
Back upglide chain shift
Inland North: front /ah/
Eastern seaboard: raise /oh/
South: add upglide to /oh/
e
æoh
o
oho
e
æ
oh
ah
ah(r)
oh(r)
oh [ç:]
awæw
unround-ing /o/Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
UnidirectionalUnidirectional
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
round-ing /o/
[ço]
[Ao]
49
Merger of /o/ and /oh/ in cot and caught, Don and dawn, hock and hawk
50
NCS
Back Vowel Shift
Back Upglide Shift
NCS
Alternatives to the low back merger
51
NCS
Back Vowel Shift
Back Upglide Shift
Pitts-burgh Shift
NCS
Low back merger and alternatives to the low back merger
Canadidn Shift
52
Driving forces
53
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
œ o oh e U
Percent advanced tokens
Male Jocks
Male Burnouts
Female Jocks
Female Burnouts
Source: Eckert 2000
Gender and social category determination of five elements of the Northern City Shift in a Detroit suburban high school
æ
54
Age * Female Years of 25 yrs Gender Education
Raising /æ/ 34* 8.6*
/e/-/æ/ reversal 34* 26*
/e/-/o/ alignment 112***
/^/-/o/ reversal 37 -16*
Social correlates of four measures of the Northern Cities Shift [N=71]
55
Three areas of resistance to the low back merger
St. Louis corridor
56
The St. Louis corridor along Interstate I-55
Fairbury
57
Fronting of /o,ah/ in the Inland North (ANAE Map 14.5).
9 Telsur speakers from No. Illinois
9 Telsur speakers from the St. Louis corridor
*** ***** ***
*******
58
Distribution of NCS measures in No. Illinois and the St. Louis corridor
Northern Illinois AE1 O2 EAQ EOD UD Age RankSterling IL 34 1Elgin IL SS 19 1Elign IL RS 42 1Joliet IL 30 1Rockford JG 37 2Belvidere IL 33 2
Hammond IN 45 3Rockford IL VS 65 4Lena IL 47 5St. Louis Corridor Corr 0.738St. Louis MH 48 1St. Louis JH2 57 2Fairbury IL 25 3Springfield AK 60 4Bloomington 27 5Springfield KR 32 6Springfield WK 67 6St. Louis JH 53 6St. Louis RM 38 6
Corr -0.05
59
A linguistic sequence 5
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
Merge /o/ --> /oh/
Merge /o/ --> /ah/
Northern Cities Shift
Pittsburgh Shift
Canadian Shift
Back vowel shift
Back upglide chain shift
Inland North: front /ah/
Eastern seaboard: raise /oh/
South: add upglide to /oh/
e
æoh
o
oho
e
æ
oh
ah
ah(r)
oh(r)
oh
awæw
unround-ing /o/Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
UnidirectionalUnidirectional
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
round-ing /o/
60
The Pittsburgh Shift across subsystems
/e/
/æ/ /o/
/oh/
Short vowels
Long and ingliding vowels
/o,oh/